Besides pollution and malodour, the slippery waste causes vehicles to skid
Published : 19 Apr 2024, 10:35 AM
Greasy liquid from city corporation trucks transporting garbage has become a source of danger on the streets of Dhaka.
Besides pollution and malodour, the slippery waste causes vehicles to skid, leading to accidents.
Dhaka North City Corporation transports 3,200 tonnes of waste to the landfill in Aminbazar every day while the amount of garbage transported by Dhaka South City Corporation to Matuail landfill is 3,000 tonnes.
They use open trucks, dump trucks, container carriers, arm-roll carriers and compactor trucks to carry the waste.
Only the compactor trucks can hold the liquid from the waste, while others have leaks.
DANGER
Tahsin Ahmed, a young man, and his friend were on their way from Kuril to Shyamoli on a motorcycle recently.
As they reached the Banani Road No. 1 bend in the Chairmanbari area on Airport Road,
the motorcycle skidded and the duo fell.
They were slightly injured, but escaped disaster.
“I didn’t notice the liquid from the waste on the street. And I didn’t realise it was so slippery,” Tahsin said.
“We skidded for at least 15 metres. We didn’t bruise ourselves as fortunately the street was slippery. But if there was a vehicle behind us, we would have been run over and killed. There’s no one to take care of this problem.”
Belal Hossain, who works in an organisation in Banani, was returning home after work some days ago.
“I pulled the brakes after seeing the greasy liquid, but it was too late. I fell,” he said.
Several days of monitoring after the incident showed that a few garbage trucks get on Airport Road from the Chairman Bari area of Banani along the Banani Road No. 1 and Road No. 2. As the trucks travel along, they spill slippery, putrid liquid, leading to hazardous conditions.
Zainal Abedin Jony, the driver of a truck engaged in transporting waste from the secondary transfer station (STS) near the T&T field in Mohakhali to the Aminbazar landfill in Savar, told bdnews24.com that garbage was brought to the STS by vans in the morning. Waste includes various types of perishables, household waste, kitchen waste, food waste.
“All day long, the liquid from this garbage leaks out. When we load the trucks, it falls on the road.”
These trucks from different areas of Dhaka go to Aminbazar through Mirpur Road, Mazar Road, and then Gabtali. As a result, liquid waste spills at different places along that route. The smell is noticeable throughout the route in the evening.
On the night of Apr 4, three garbage trucks were going towards Gabtali through the Tejgaon-Bijoy Sarani overpass in Dhaka. Following the trucks, it became clear that all three were leaking liquid waste onto the road. It is not very clear when they move, but when the trucks stop at signals, the road is flooded with waste.
Sohrab Uddin, a resident of the Vasantek area, said that motorcyclists are more afraid of the dirty water.
Sohrab, who uses a motorcycle, said that is a common occurrence on many roads in Dhaka. However, it is most common in the Gabtali and Jatrabari areas.
“Garbage trucks often spill dirty water. This water is very slippery. Driving behind those trucks is very risky, the wheels can skid. I have never fallen, but I have seen it happen once.”
The Dhaka South City Corporation's waste is dumped at the Matuail landfill. Garbage vehicles pass through Sayedabad, Jatrabari, Golapbagh and Demra to reach the landfill.
On the night of Apr 6, liquid waste was seen leaking from most of the waste trucks travelling through Sayedabad, Jatrabari and Matuail. In addition to the liquid, some trucks also spilled garbage along the way. Various parts of the route, particularly from Sayedabad to Jatrabari and Matuail, were littered with garbage.
Salma, a tea shop owner on the side of the Dhalpur Junction road, said that many waste trucks pass through the road every day. Dirty water from these trucks falls on the road. Accidents often occur due to slippery roads.
“There is a bit (speed breaker) here. The garbage trucks that hit the breaker spill garbage onto the street. Dirty water falls too. Some people slip and fall every day. My shop is open all night. I see it happening regularly."
Two waste trucks were seen going back and forth from Jatrabari to Kajla. Liquid waste was seeping out of both trucks. The two trucks were stuck in the traffic jam for at least 15 minutes after going to the Kajla Bhangapress area. During that time, foul-smelling water spilled onto the road and people were forced to hold their noses.
Abu Taleb, a resident of Qazla area, told bdnews24.com that the road had become slippery due to this spilled waste. He said he had seen it many times.
“I have seen many motorcycles with riders slipping in front of my eyes. Scraped knees, legs, and elbows are a daily occurrence. I have arranged to send some of them to the hospital. The worst thing is the risk of falling and being crushed by other vehicles.”
A waste management inspector from DSCC told bdnews24.com that waste is taken to the Matuail landfill in the afternoon by containers, open trucks, compactors and dump trucks from the STS.
“The best vehicle for waste transport is the compactor. It has less chance of leaking or spillage. Waste falls from the other vehicles, and liquid waste also seeps out. But we don't have that many compactors."
HOW DANGEROUS IS IT?
Experts say that liquid waste falling on the road is causing accidents, polluting the environment, and putting public health at risk.
Abdus Sobhan, president of the PARIJA environmental organisation told bdnews24.com, "If the waste is transported according to the rules, the liquid waste should not be spill onto the road like this. This waste is adversely affecting the environment and public health.”
“This is not only household wastes but also industrial wastes. The most alarming thing is that it also contains waste from hospitals and pathological labs. It is said that a private organisation disposes of hospital waste. But that is a very small amount.”
The former additional director general of the Department of Environment said, "People are afraid of slipping and falling on this waste when it spills during transportation. What is more alarming is that these various types of microbial wastes can dry out and turn into dust, which is blown about by the air and can be breathed in by the public."
This liquid wastes are ruining the beauty of the city, commented public health expert Dr Mushtaq Husain told bdnews24.com, “This is not only natural waste, they may contain chemical wastes, bio-medical wastes. As a result, it can certainly pose a danger to public health.”
A waste management inspector from DSCC told bdnews24.com that waste is taken to the Matuail landfill in the afternoon by containers, open trucks, compactors and dump trucks from the STS.
“The best vehicle for waste transport is the compactor. It has less chance of leaking or spillage. Waste falls from the other vehicles, and liquid waste also seeps out. But we don't have that many compactors."
WHAT ARE THE CITY CORPORATIONS DOING TO STOP IT?
According to the DNCC, out of the 54 wards, 28 wards are managed by the agency. Waste is removed by 145 vehicles. Of these, 57 are compactors, the rest are open trucks and containers.
DNCC has appointed contractors to remove waste from 26 wards. Private companies transport waste in open trucks. They have no compactors.
Dhaka North City Chief Waste Management Officer Captain Mohammad Fida Hasan told bdnews24.com that they are also concerned about the liquid spilling from waste vehicles onto the road. The DNCC is working to solve the problem, he said.
“This leachate is a hazard. It doesn’t leak out when garbage is transported by a compactor, but it happens in an open truck. To address this, we are buying eight more compactors, which will arrive from Japan within a fortnight. We also have an agreement with Japan to make STS smarter. There will be a conveyor belt where the waste will be compacted and loaded into trucks. Then there will be no more leakage."
Abu Naser, spokesman for the Dhaka South City Corporation told bdnews24.com that the waste management department of DSCC removes this waste. There are no private institutions. In addition to trucks, they also use 22 compactors. Another 30 compactors are in the process of being procured.
“We haven’t received the compactors we needed in all these years. A formal process has to be followed to buy them. We have invited international tenders for purchase of some compactors. As far as I know, the process of buying them is almost finalised. Adding these to the fleet will alleviate some of the problem.”